Wednesday, 14 May 2025

Weed and pest control

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (18:28): (1627) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment to ensure adequate funding in the upcoming budget for vital weed and pest control in regional Victoria. There have been recent cuts to Parks Victoria’s budget which directly impact weed and pest control, including rabbits. A $95 million government cut to Parks Victoria’s budget has also exacerbated the risk of poorly controlled weed and pest populations spilling out of parks onto neighbouring farmers’ land. We know that high rabbit populations can exacerbate drought conditions. The Weekly Times first reported in October last year that Parks Victoria had almost halved the 111 services it carries out across 4.12 million hectares of public land. This meant direct cuts to rabbit and fox control, rubbish collection and educational programs. Media coverage of the cuts led to a review of Parks Victoria in November last year, which was due to be completed last month. This left the future of the staff and the services they deliver in limbo. Also left in limbo are the rural communities who do not know how this will affect their businesses and communities.

The Weekly Times also reported that the Allan Labor government has created enormous uncertainty for sheep producers with its on-again off-again wild dog policies. Farmers were left not knowing if control measures would come to an end for most of last year. Adding to the challenge, experts have warned that rabbit populations are poised to explode in coming years, as there are currently no new biocontrol agents in the pipeline and resistance to calicivirus is building in rabbit populations. Without adequate funding for coordinated control, we risk seeing widespread environmental degradation, soil erosion and loss of productivity on both public and private land. At the same time wild dogs continue to wreak havoc on livestock, killing lambs and calves and undermining the viability of farming businesses. Without a reliable and well-resourced dog control program, farmers are left to bear the costs of government inaction.

I urge the minister to provide clarity and allocate funding in the state budget for weed and pest control across Victoria to ensure that our farmers, regional communities and the natural environment are not left to suffer the consequences.